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#65: Spooky Season

What is it about Halloween that we find so deeply appealing? Is it the excuse to dress up and pretend to be something other than ourselves for a few hours? The exploration of all things creepy and macabre, of subjects normally too taboo to engage with? Perhaps it’s just the abundance of all our favorite candies at the same time.

Whatever the reason, there’s no denying the allure of this thrilling and chilling holiday. And while many people’s Halloween celebrations will need to be very different this year, there’s no reason why we can’t still enjoy a bit of spooky fun!

Whether you like horror, the creepy aesthetic, or just overloading on candy, this week’s prompts have plenty of inspiration to get you into the Halloween mood.

🥇 Winner

“Bridgemoss Guardians” by Joshua G. J. Insole

🏆 Winner of Contest #65

She waited for 15 minutes after the sliver of light beneath her bedroom door disappeared. Once she was sure her parents were asleep, Sadie slid the window up and stole down the trellis. The autumnal air swished down into her lungs — crisp, chilly, and delicious. She landed like a cat, crouched, hands on the floor. Sadie didn’t need to jump the last of the way to the ground, but where would the fun be in not doing that?Her ten-speed leaned next to the bins — where she’d left it. With a glance up at the droopy eyes of the house, she hopped on ...

224 comments 224

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Marshmallow Wrapped In Barbed Wire” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #65

Twenty five years in, she found herself a ghost. She stood unseen in the living room, stupidly holding a large bowl of homemade caramel corn. The noise from the widescreen television washed over her, the whistles and calls, the screaming of the fans, the roar of the crowd. The men in the room, overgrown and overfed, booed and hooted, depending on their agreement with the referees. Empty bottles of beer and depleted bags of chips lay pillaged. She sat the bowl down. Quick meaty hands dug to the bottom, shoved gooey warm caramel corn into...

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“Freed” by Lina Oz

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #65

“Victoria, please.”“This is so stupid. And you know I hate it when you call me that.”“It’s really not. You just have to dig up my grave, burn my bones, and then I’ll be set free.”I stare at my dead sister’s ghost. This is, quite possibly, the worst birthday I've ever had. And that's saying something, seeing as she died on the last one.“And how the hell do you know that’ll work?”“I’ve seen it before.”“From where?”“Er…a T.V. show?”I glower. She rubs her neck. “You have got to be kidding me, Elise.”“What? It worked!”“Because it was fake, dumbas...

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“Vampire Lawn Care” by David G.

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #65

He couldn’t recall exactly when having a nice lawn had started to matter to him.He and Mary used to joke about it when they’d moved out from the city, how the neighbors would talk about grass treatments and how tall to mow the blades, how they all had the same houses with the portico and the dormer windows and the multi-crested roofs and the two-car garage with the same foreign SUV out front, how they dressed in identical fleece pullovers with logos displayed across the chest and named their children after presidents – Madison, Lincoln, Kenn...

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“Good Night” by Amy St. Pierre

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #65

The day had been unseasonably warm for October, but the night air was cold. I put on extra thick socks and my coziest hoodie, and I packed two extra blankets with my sleeping bag. Then I watched outside from my bedroom window, peering outside through the blinds, waiting for the flash of headlights coming down the road. Moments later, Jade pulled up outside my mother’s house. She was driving her mother’s old black Saab, and she had her bright strawberry blonde hair pulled up and tucked up inside a baseball cap. ...

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“A Witch’s Guide to Being Brave” by Itxy Lopez

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #65

My hands are clenched inside my robe’s pockets. Better, I think, bunched up and out of sight than to see them shaking. I’m breathing one, two, three, in, and one, two, three, out, but my heart’s still beating in my chest like an annoying neighbor who can’t take a hint. I want to call them—Paola, Saanvi, and Emma—and tell them I’m out. That I’ll join them next Halloween, but Emma’s words won’t stop playing in my head. They were the last words she said to me the first day I met her: “Witches don’t have a choice but to be brave. Fear be da...

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“When Dracula Moved Next Door To Mr. Rogers” by Maureen Mancini

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #65

Word Count: 2,452 &nb...

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This week's prompts

Start your story with two characters deciding to spend the night in a graveyard.

Novel – 320 stories

Write about someone’s first Halloween as a ghost.

Halloween – 206 stories

Write about a group of witches meeting up on Halloween night.

Halloween – 135 stories

Write about a vampire or werewolf who moves into a quiet suburban neighborhood.

Vampire – 160 stories

Write about someone taking a child trick-or-treating for the very first time.

Kids – 87 stories

Stories

“Bridgemoss Guardians” by Joshua G. J. Insole

🏆 Winner of Contest #65

She waited for 15 minutes after the sliver of light beneath her bedroom door disappeared. Once she was sure her parents were asleep, Sadie slid the window up and stole down the trellis. The autumnal air swished down into her lungs — crisp, chilly, and delicious. She landed like a cat, crouched, hands on the floor. Sadie didn’t need to jump the last of the way to the ground, but where would the fun be in not doing that?Her ten-speed leaned next to the bins — where she’d left it. With a glance up at the droopy eyes of the house, she hopped on ...

224 comments 224

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“The Whole Story” by Liza Anne

Submitted to Contest #65

“If this goes south, I need you to promise me something.”“Anything.”“Don’t leave until you know the whole story.”Her last words ring in my ears and swirl around my head. They always land on the same two words. Don’t leave. The bed feels stiff under my body and the blanket presses down on me like a twenty ton weight. The room has a faint glow from the dawn’s light slipping through the window. A numbing wave of acceptance rolls through my body.I roll out of bed and peer out the window. It’s barely six o’clock, but there are two boys playing ba...

114 comments 114

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“The Witch-Out” by Melissa Hassan

Submitted to Contest #65

“Order...order!” Eleanora yelled over the loud protests from the coven of sister witches gathered in the great hall of her manor.“What do you mean by, a 'witch-out'?” asked one of the sister witches.“It means we are not going to be doing our usual witching tonight,” replied Eleanora pounding the gavel on the table as the protesters began to yell even louder this time.“Order...I shall have order in this hall!” Eleanor yelled loudly as her voice echoed through the hall and reverberated off the walls.The loud protests died abruptly as everyone ...

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“Marshmallow Wrapped In Barbed Wire” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #65

Twenty five years in, she found herself a ghost. She stood unseen in the living room, stupidly holding a large bowl of homemade caramel corn. The noise from the widescreen television washed over her, the whistles and calls, the screaming of the fans, the roar of the crowd. The men in the room, overgrown and overfed, booed and hooted, depending on their agreement with the referees. Empty bottles of beer and depleted bags of chips lay pillaged. She sat the bowl down. Quick meaty hands dug to the bottom, shoved gooey warm caramel corn into...

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“Ghostly fun times” by B. W.

Submitted to Contest #65

Oh, why? why did any of this ever have to happen? I could have just been at home still and watching a movie with my friends or something. We always did like watching hocus pocus on Halloween...We could have been out trick-or-treating as well...either of those options was good. I remember how last year I had dressed up as Katara and one of them had dressed up as Aang...Do any of them even miss me? I know that I had only died a week ago or so...but they shouldn't even miss me that much. I don't think that I was ever there with them that much.....

293 comments 293

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“He isn't real...or is he?” by B. W.

Submitted to Contest #65

All you had wanted to do for Halloween was just stay home the entire night and watch a movie or fall asleep. You never even liked the holiday, you hated dressing up for it as well. Some friends of yours would always tell you, "Come on Vayd it'll be fun!" Though it never seemed like it would be fun. You were just planning on watching a comedy and eating some peanut butter at three in the morning, though a while before ten at night your mother came into your room. "You are going to babysit your cousin." She didn't even explain further or...

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“That Which Comes For Them.” by Cam Croz

Submitted to Contest #65

As the faded black quilt of the night masks out the everlasting intense flare we call luminescence,And the harmonies of all blissful things fall prey to the mournful music of the ever obfuscous vault.The quiet mellow wind will drift, consuming the ones who shiver in the rawest of frost.And then, when all the voices of the world remain unspoken, That's when, the eternal deepening pained souls,The beaten.The discouraged.The crippledThe broken...For them, it will come. That which threatens the presence of suffering and grief,Of tortur...

126 comments 126

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“A Haunted Prank ” by ALINA Manha

Submitted to Contest #65

"Come on Kiyara. Walk faster." Jane, my best friend said as we walked down the street. Aaah what did I get myself into I thought. Yesterday when we were watching a horror movie Jane came up with a plan, that we could go to the graveyard and spend the night there. I didn't want to go there, it was very spooky at night especially on a Halloween night. I shuddered as I thought about it. But I had to say yes because I didn't want her to think that I was scared and didn't want to go. Which was true, I was really scared. Jane thought it ...

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“Freed” by Lina Oz

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #65

“Victoria, please.”“This is so stupid. And you know I hate it when you call me that.”“It’s really not. You just have to dig up my grave, burn my bones, and then I’ll be set free.”I stare at my dead sister’s ghost. This is, quite possibly, the worst birthday I've ever had. And that's saying something, seeing as she died on the last one.“And how the hell do you know that’ll work?”“I’ve seen it before.”“From where?”“Er…a T.V. show?”I glower. She rubs her neck. “You have got to be kidding me, Elise.”“What? It worked!”“Because it was fake, dumbas...

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“The Coffin” by Julia Boddie

Submitted to Contest #65

"Let's go," Rebbeca told her. Magaret did not want to go. She was terrified of graveyards. Rebbeca of course, who wasn't scared of anything, was only doing this because of a dare. Of all people, why did Magaret's best friend have to be a daredevil? "Do I have to go? Why can't you just go by yourself?" Magaret asked. She regretted those words when they left her mouth. She couldn't leave Rebbeca to do this by herself. What was she thinking, no matter how scared she was of this graveyard, she would have to face her fears. "Please come w...

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“Entries from a Werewolf Lover's Diary” by Alby Carter

Submitted to Contest #65

June 19, 2240Three days after.Our town is hollow, lost without the soft music of the werewolves' howls, some of which were yours. We're not allowed to say it anymore, but we loved those howls. Every night, we were frozen with anticipation, waiting for the sweet melody to sing us to sleep. Every morning, we mourned its loss. Now that the howls are no longer, the town is like it was the minutes before the howling started. Numb, unsure, and worried. We are always worried.We'd known that the zombies would come. We'd known we couldn't always live...

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“A strange night (part 2)” by B. W.

Submitted to Contest #65

Nothing seemed to really happen during the day, all I ever did was go and pick the classes that I wanted to be in since I had forgotten to yesterday. Everything seemed quite interesting on the list.I mostly just stayed in my dorm or walked around a few times, the assistant had told me that I'd start classes the next day. How would that even go through? How would the other ones react to me?I was going to have to try and figure this stuff out, what monster would I need to be? While I was thinking about this stuff in my dorm, there was a sudden...

227 comments 227

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“October Masks ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #65

Imagine: Nima Lachapelle. A ballerina from Arkansas, disillusioned and disenchanted, cheated out of a fortune by her scummy ex boyfriend. She’s running from the law after a late night tire slashing with friends gone wrong. She’s currently late for an audition, but standing in front of a coffee shop with cold hands and a mask covering half her face. The order will be long and complicated; it will set her back at least twelve dollars, but what she loses in cash she will make up for in energy. Nineteen years old an...

119 comments 119

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“Lost” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #65

LostBy: Haripriya“Are you sure we are not lost?” I asked, looking panicked. I was going to faint any second now. “No! You’re being silly, that’s all! Besides, just because we didn’t go to the cabins like we were supposed to doesn’t automatically make us lost!” Navya said, her voice trembling with fear. I knew that she was scared, but just trying to hide the fact that there was no hope. “Please, tell me the truth, we are lost, aren’t we? Don’t lie to me, it is not the time to look out for my feelings. You...

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“The Witches of Liberty” by Amaya .

Submitted to Contest #65

The meeting took place over a little campfire in the middle of a circle-shaped clearing, surrounded by trees. The fire flickered, illuminating the green, warty faces of the four witches that stood around it. One of them, the one named Gwendolyn, prodded the logs at the bottom of the fire with a long stick. “Let this meeting of the Witches of Liberty begin,” Beatrice said. She was the shortest one and was wearing an almost comically tall, crooked hat, much taller than any of the other witches' hats, so that she would still have the appea...

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$50

Prize money

908

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 30, 2020 EST

Won by Joshua G. J. Insole 🏆

Title: Bridgemoss Guardians

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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